Religion
- The Athenians are polytheistic
- This means they believe in more than one God
Gods of the Greeks in Athens
- Zeus-
- King of the gods and ruler of the sky, thunder, and lightning
- He ate his pregnant wife that was going to have Athena because he didn’t want to get overruled by his offspring
- Athena broke out of his skull
- Zeus had two brothers named Poseidon and Hades
- Athena-
- She was one of the most important goddesses in Athens
- She was the god of wisdom, handicrafts, defense, and strategic warfare
- Daughter of Zeus and Hera
- She was fierce and brave in battle but only fought to protect her homeland
- Hera-
- She was the goddess of gods
- She was also the god of women and marriage
- Zeus’s wife
- Her mother Rhea and her father Cronos
- Hades-
- God of the underworld and dead
- Brother of Zeus and Poseidon
- He was very greedy and was always trying to increase his numbers
- Poseidon-
- God of the sea
- His weapon was the trident and it could shake the earth and shatter any object
- His brothers were Zeus and Hades
- He was second in power for the gods only behind Zeus
- Hermes-
- Main role was to be a messenger for the gods
- He had winged shoes and a winged hat that is what he is most known for
- Ares-
- God of war
- He was very aggressive and unpopular with the gods and humans
- He personified the brutalness of war
- Ares was immortal but when he was ever hurt in battle he would run back to his father Zeus and be healed again
- Hephaestus-
- God of metalwork and fire
- He was born lame and weak and was an outcast of Olympus
- He made the gods weapons and artifacts
- Apollo-
- God of prophecy
- He is the patron of healing
- Very popular with the mortals
- Master archer and fleet footer
- It’s said he won the first Olympic games
- Aphrodite-
- God of love and beauty
- She was loved by all gods and humans
- She married Hephaestus and had many children
- Dionysus-
- God of wine, wine making, ecstasy, and celebration
- Zeus was his father
- Demeter-
- Goddess of fertility of the earth, crops, nature, and seasons
- Many humans praised her so that they could have a good harvest
- She is the sister of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades
- Artemis-
- Virgin goddess of the hunt, moon, animals, archery, and childbirth
- Master archer and practiced
- Well known for the six golden horned deer to pull her chariot
- She is the daughter of Zeus, and sister of Apollo
Why did they pray?
- The Greeks believed that they had to worship and please the Gods in order to have good fortune
- The Greeks participated in a number of rituals, rites ceremonies, and sacrifices in order to impress and placate the Gods
- Greek religion was ritual based, practicing a flexible set of beliefs
Where did the religion take place?
- Temples, shrines, and statues were erected as a designated place to offer sacrifices to the Gods
- The altar, usually located in front of the temple, was the most important part of the Greek sanctuary, not the temples. This is where people gathered to worship
How the Athenian religion compares to other civilizations at the times?
- Greek religion was a predominant form of early Paganism
- Their religion reflected many central ideas and concepts of earlier forms of Paganism, such as Druidism, both ancient and Modern and Witchcraft and Wicca
- The origins of Greek history has been lost
Athenian Myths
- Daughter of Zeus
- Now Zeus, king of all the gods made his daughter with his bright-eyed Tritogeneia. Zeus put his daughter in his own belly first, that the goddess might devise for him both good and evil
Contest of Poseidon and Athena
- There was a half snake half man named Cerops that had to find a patron for the city state of Athens
- Two gods were interested Poseidon and Athena
- Cerops asked from them to offer a gift truly valuable for Athens
- Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and water came out of the ground but it was salty
- Athena struck her spear I the ground and planted an olive, for olive trees to grow
The Minotaur
- The minotaur is a mythical creature that is part man part bull
- It lives in the center of Labyrinth
Government of Athens
Government
- Limited Democracy
- Included the rich and poor people
- People could speak their minds
Influenced Government
- People would directly vote on stuff such as elections
- Elect people to vote for us and represent us
- Gave citizens roles
Government before Democracy
- State ruled by nobility
- Rule is hereditary and based on ties, social rank, and wealth
- Social status and wealth support rulers’ authority
- Practiced in Athens prior to 594 B.C.
Citizenship
- 18 years of age
- Men had two years of military training
- Became citizens and could take part in government
- Only adult men were full citizens
- Athenians thought women were inferior
- Women couldn’t participate in government
- In Athens, wealthy nobles and poor people clash
- The people of Athens avoided major political problems by making reforms
- Reformers tried to build a democracy, or government by the people
- Only free adult men were citizens
Key Players
- Pericles
- Socrates
- Plato
Pericles
- Lead of Athens around 450 B.C.
- Made sure all citizens could take part in government
- Any citizen could be in assembly or serve on a jury-arranged for them to be paid
- This allowed even poor people to take part in government
Socrates
- Teacher of philosophy in the middle 400’s B.C.
- Angered some by questioning laws, customs, and religion
- Brought to trial in 399 B.C. for “urging Athens” young people to revolt
- Sentenced to death
- Most famous philosopher in Ancient Greece
Plato
- His book “The Republic”
- Plato discussed his ideal form of government, in which a society could be constructed to bring out the best of behavior of its citizens
- Plato believed that different people have different strengths and weaknesses
Assembly of the Demos
- Male Athenians citizens listen, discuss, and vote on topics that affected Athenian life
- Spoke their minds and exercise their votes that had to do with the government of the city
- Was the most central and most definitive institution of their democracy
- Citizen were paid for attending that way poor would come without worry about leaving work
The Council of 500
- Represented the full time government of Athens
- Had 500 citizens, 50 from each of the ten tribes, who serve from one year
- Could issue laws on its own, but main function was to prepare the agenda for meetings of the assembly
- Would meet to talk about and vote on “Preliminary decrees”
The Peoples Court
- The Heliaea and other courts were citizen juries would listen to cases would vote on whether or not someone was guilty, and vote on punishments for people who were guilty
- Jurors would get ½ drachma a day ( or 3 obols) for being in jury
- Had to be at least 30 years old in jury
Supplemented by
- The Council of the Areopagus
- The Archons
- The Generals
Ancient Athens Architecture and Art
Ancient Agora of Athens
- Marketplace for social, commercial and religious events
Temple of Zeus at Olympia
- Ancient Greek Temple in Olympia dedicated to the chief of the Gods Zeus
- Built between 472 and 456 B.C.
- Very model of fully developed classical Greek Temple of the Doric Order
Segesta’s Temple
- Political Temple for the Elymian people
Delphi Treasury
- Built to protect valuables
- Such as gold or silver from representatives from city-states
Parthenon
- Temple dedicated to Athena
- Made of pen telic marble
- One of the most monumental representatives symbols of the culture
Athena
- The Parthenon was the temple of Athena and stayed intact until 1687
- There were two statues of Athena, one inside the Parthenon and one outside
- Both statues of Athena are gone, but a temple from 400 B.C. remains that honors her
Acropolis
- Means the highest point of the town
- A home to kings, several temples, shrines, and sanctuaries
Arch of Hadrian
- Monumental gateway across an ancient road in the center of Athens, leading to a complex of buildings and structure
Temple of Athena Nike
- Made to worship the Greek Goddess of Athens
Greek Parliament
- Palace for Kings Otto and George I
- Also served as parliament and senate building
Ancient Agora
- Marketplace for social, commercial, and religious events
Theatre of Dionysus
- Where songs and dances were performed to honor Dionysus
Panathenaic Stadium
- Where males competed in events similar to track and field
Library of Hadrian
- Consists of lecture halls, studies, and a library
Art
- One of the things that survived to our day form the golden age is the Minoan art
- It provides insight into the culture that flourished in Crete
- Not much art survived from the Prepalaial period
- The art in Athens is some of the most unique in the world
- Their artistic abilities were shown through sculptures, pottery, and jewelry
Theater
- The Athenians had great theater art in the golden age
- Arion created chorus singing and the chorus became part of plays
- One actor played multiple roles by wearing different masks and costumes
- The theater in itself was a semi-circle, the high class people like the government officials and judges, mayors sons and the commoners sat in the idle to the back of the theater
- They had 3 different types of plays they performed: commercial, tragedies, and satyr
Architecture
- The Greeks developed 3 architectural designs
- Doric is plain and sturdy
- Ionic is thinner and more decorated
- Corinthian is fancy
Military
Delian League
- The Delian League was founded by the Athenians after the Persian Wars
- The name “Delian League” derived from the official meeting place of the League: Delos
- The league was a sort of confederacy dividing Greece into five districts: Thrace, Hellespont, Ionia, Caria, and the islands
- It was a military organization whose purpose was basically to keep pushing the Persians of Greece
- Over time, Athens starting turning the league into an empire
- The Peloponnesian War started as a result of the League making Athens too powerful—the league went up against Sparta and its allies
- The first member of the League that attempted to secede was Naxos
- After the rebellion was put down, they had to tear down their walls, give up their naval fleet and lose their vote in the League
- Other purposes of the League besides driving out Persia was to prepare for future invasions and organize a means of dividing the spoils of war
- The league, and thus the “Athenian Empire” ended in 404 B.C. when Spartans captured Athens
Grecian Warriors
- The ancient Greece roles in the war were to protect their country
- The warriors fought for their own personal glory instead of a organized formation
- The solider farmers had tended to their farms before battles
- Death in war was the most glorious way to die
- Warriors fought in more solo battle, fought for personal victories
- Outside of being the warriors they lived normal lives like picking crops and families
- The downside to being a warrior was you were almost a slave and you were supposed to fight whenever they called you to fight
Key Players
- Themistocles leader of the Greeks Durian Wars, Spartans attempted to hold the pass of Thermopylae
- The Greek fleet was made of 300 ships, 200 of which were Athenian
- Themistocles wanted to stay at Salamis he began to fight by sending a servant to Xerxes saying Athenians wanted to switch sides
- Darius said his son Xerxes was associated with the Persian War
- Leonidas was a 5th century B.C. Spartan military King
- Archidamus II was king of Sparta from 469 to 427 B.C. one of his conflicts was called the Archidamian War
- Phormio= most important Athenian commander during the Peloponnesian War
- All key players, Archidamus II, Themistocles, King Darius, King Leonidas, Xerxes, Demosthenes, Brasidas, Phormio , and Pericles
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